A student asked Martin Luther, “If you could have only one book of the Bible, which would you choose?” His choice was Genesis. God’s plan started “In the beginning.”
Sin entered creation through Adam and Eve in the beginning. Through that initial rebellion against God’s plan, we “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3). “None are righteous, no, not one” (Psalm 14).
Then [Abraham] said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.”
Genesis 18:32
In short, man needs God’s plan.
Chapter eleven of Genesis introduces “Abram.” He stood out from the ‘Sin Cycle Gang.’ God appreciated Abram. He was as good as man could be. His goodness was not perfect performance. He was eager to glorify God by living as God intended.
Abraham (i.e., Abram) was God’s faithful optimist. He believed God, and God counted his faith as righteousness.
God and two unidentified angels met with Abraham under the trees of Mamre. This meeting was not just for blessing, it was also for warning.
Abraham, God, and His two unidentified messengers set their course toward Sodom and Gomorrah.
Sodom and Gomora were a perfect example of moral depravity.
They were lost beyond a care for God’s mercy.
Sodom was a dramatic demonstration of God’s righteous judgment against sin and wickedness.
God trusted Abraham for godly fellowship. Abraham affirmed God’s love for all life. They were friends. The blessings from God included a mission for all who follow God’s plan.
God said, “I have known [Abraham] and he will command his children and his household after him, so they keep going the way of the Lord, being right and just” (Genesis 18:19). God not only trusted Abraham with the present, He entrusted Abraham with future generations.
Yahweh made His intentions clear to Abraham, because Abraham would teach future generations to walk in God’s way and no other way. Jesus blesses and warns us to keep the way of the Lord (John 3:16-17). Is God’s blessing for everybody.
There are truly two sides of the Day of the Lord. It is like the now famous bumper sticker: “Eternity: Smoking or non-smoking?” To the wicked, to any who mock God and block faith in Jesus, God warns, “Unpack your asbestos underwear; judgement will get very hot.” “‘All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and Judgment Day will set them on fire,’ says the LORD Almighty” (Malachi 4:1a).
This is God’s plan repeated as Jesus tells us to “make disciples of ALL NATIONS…baptizing [and]…teaching all I have commanded” (Matthew 28:19-20). Blessing and warning.
Not fifty, not forty, not even ten are right and just on their own merits. Only Christ, the righteousness of God by grace, through faith, saves. From Genesis through Revelation, Jesus is our message from generation to generation.
Scriptures
- Genesis 18:17-33